Preventing wildfires in Clark Fork

CLARK FORK — With summer near, so is fire season and Clark Fork Fire Chief Mike Schacht is getting ahead of possible fire danger with a public community wildfire preparedness workshop event.

Since taking the position in February 2022 Schacht wasted no time making plans to improve the operations of the Clark Fork fire house not only for volunteers but the community as well through outreach efforts and volunteer quality of life taking priority during the summer season last year.

Now with the workshop event, Schacht has set his sights on improving community fire safety while simultaneously continuing to accomplish another goal set last year — camaraderie among departments.

Saturday, May 6 will bring together the Clark Fork, Heron and Sam Owen fire departments for the event. Schacht said the event will include life-saving information from a roster of guest speakers and presenters, including Avista, the U.S. Forest Service and Bonner County Emergency Management.

Starting with a brief history of wildfires, and incidents in the area the event then breaks down into several topics of interest. Schacht said that everything will be covered from fire prevention, and planning for what to do in the event of a wild or house fire, to giving information on what to do after regarding the property. While the event will be centered on fire prevention and safety, Schacht said additional information will include a how-to of website resources for checking fire status, evacuation routes a forecast of the upcoming season, and plans for controlled burns in Bonner County.

The event will be held at the Clark Fork senior center located at 1001 Cedar St. from 1 to 4 p.m. May 6.

Information: https://bit.ly/447dfnJ